By utilizing Flickr, I have collected images of 10 prominent African American female celebrities. The years of relevancy are from 1950-2010. I considered this montage to be visual culture because, these successes of these women project the idea that African-American females who are lighter-skinned are most likely to be considered more beautiful and subsequently be categorized as sex symbols. Artistry aside, it is evidenced by these photos the lighter-skinned African American female performers have enjoyed the fruits of being considered sex symbols. Whether that it is positive or negative, is up to the viewer. However one must recognize that these celebrities do not represent the full spectrum of all skin tones within the African-American community.
The second photo is of Dorothy Dandridge. In 1955 Dandridge became the first African-American female to be nominated for an Academy Award in the best actress in the film Carmen Jones, category four years later she became nominated for a Golden Globe award in the film Porgy and Bess. Albeit featured in LIFE magazine, the photo was taken from http://concreteloop.com/2010/ 02/black-history-throwback- pics-dorothy-dandridge-promo- shots-from-1951. It is a still from the 1951 film, Tarzan’s Peril in which she was the queen of an isolated African tribe. Like jungle-esque Africa, the background setting is very natural, wild and primordial, thus having not been developed.
Dandridge posing a turned position and not looking into the viewers eye. Therefore, she is making a coy and subservient offer of sexual invitation. Like her contemporaries, Lena Horne and Eartha Kitt, Dandridge’s soft features and lighter skin also facilitated her into the stratosphere of crossover sexual appeal. However, at the same rate due to the fact that she is still African-American, it was inequal for and then illegal for miscegenation to occur. Dandridge simultaneously set the standards for African-American female beauty but for suppressed White patriarchal sexual desire. Her attire, much like the background is wild and colorful thus making this picture dramatic more so than static.
Works Cited:
By utilizing Flickr, I have collected images of 10 prominent African American female celebrities. The years of relevancy are from 1950-2010. I considered this montage to be visual culture because, these successes of these women project the idea that African-American females who are lighter-skinned are most likely to be considered more beautiful and subsequently be categorized as sex symbols. Artistry aside, it is evidenced by these photos the lighter-skinned African American female performers have enjoyed the fruits of being considered sex symbols. Whether that it is positive or negative, is up to the viewer. However one must recognize that these celebrities do not represent the full spectrum of all skin tones within the African-American community.
Dandridge posing a turned position and not looking into the viewers eye. Therefore, she is making a coy and subservient offer of sexual invitation. Like her contemporaries, Lena Horne and Eartha Kitt, Dandridge’s soft features and lighter skin also facilitated her into the stratosphere of crossover sexual appeal. However, at the same rate due to the fact that she is still African-American, it was inequal for and then illegal for miscegenation to occur. Dandridge simultaneously set the standards for African-American female beauty but for suppressed White patriarchal sexual desire. Her attire, much like the background is wild and colorful thus making this picture dramatic more so than static.
Works Cited: